As this chapter has argued, leadership practices in New Zealand have been significantly modified or tamed by institutional change. Whilst the prime minister and executive continue to be the pre-eminent political actors, the trend towards minority government has produced a discernible shift in the balance of power towards the multi-party legislature and its increasingly independent select committees. With the emergence of veto players, mainly in the form of the small parties, the role of prime minister is being transformed from that of mobilising party leader to reconciling coalition manager.

Whether these constraints on prime ministerial leadership prove durable is a matter of some conjecture. The currently low levels of public support for small parties point to the possibility of a substantial shrinking in their number and influence in the years ahead. In the event that this occurs, and that there is a return to a single party majority government, will the more consultative and constrained style of prime ministerial leadership prevail, or will there be a return to the leadership practices of the pre-PR era? Only time will tell.